Not Fade Away
by dufflecoat-supreme
Summary: Starts in MWPP 6th Year and focuses on the budding relationship between Lily and James, the firmly established friendship between James, Sirius, Remus and Peter and the spread of Voldemort's influence.
1. Chapter 1

Not Fade Away 

The air was heavy with excitement and emotion; there must have been a thousand people standing on Platform 9 ¾, laughing, crying, gossiping...it was the same every year. James and Sirius looked around at the swelling masses, sardonic smiles playing on both their faces: the start of another Hogwarts year was always heavy with the promise of mischief and fun.

They spotted the tall, lanky figure of Remus Lupin, off to the side not 100 feet away, looking quite disorientated by the large crowd; he hated being around so many people.  
  
"Hey, Moony!" James called over the ruckus, bringing Remus' attention to the two dark haired Marauders now approaching him, and the frown that had been etched into his lightly scarred and lined face slowly emerged into a shy smile.  
  
James and Sirius reached him, laughter and light in their eyes, "Have a good summer Moony?" James asked, his black hair sticking out in every direction.  
  
"Superb," Remus replied in his quiet, unassuming voice, slight smile still on his handsome, but exhausted face, "Got my first greys," he said, plucking one from his head. "And yours?" he asked, carefully aiming this question at Sirius.  
  
Sirius said nothing, he simply ran a hand through his long, black hair, plastered his trademark roguish grin on his face and punched Remus in the arm, "My we've grown, Mooney, you're beginning to look like a real boy," he said, his voice straining to remain carefree.   
  
Remus knew that Sirius had run away from home that summer and taken to living with the Potters, but Remus knew that Sirius would no sooner admit that he had had a hard time than Remus would announce his own existence as a werewolf.  
  
Remus looked at James, his eyebrows raised, James smiled casually back at him, but also managed to communicate a warning with the look in his eyes.  
  
ILeave it alone.../I  
  
Remus nodded gently, to indicate that he had understood then laughed as Sirius went into another of his hyperactive tirades about the fun they were going to have this year.  
  
However, Sirius' observation had been quite correct; Remus no longer looked pallid and weak, but rather, he had grown over the course of this summer, becoming as tall as James, his light brown hair already flecked with his first greys, he had taken on a rather distinguished appearance. He was still rather thin, but he had now acquired a rather athletic figure; not surprising since inside of him a monster of considerable strength dwelt.  
  
Sirius remained basically unchanged, though it seemed he had grown a full foot, pale skin heavily transposed against his dark hair and eyes, hair a little bit longer, chest a little broader, but he retained a cat-like physique. Long and lean, he always looked like a predator, always searching for his next attack.James, as always, was James, if no one knew better they would see his charming face and think he might be a polite, attractive, slightly bewildered young man. He looked like a choir boy, his hazel eyes peered out from behind his circular glasses and immediately people misjudged him because of them; they did not see past the glasses into his eyes which were always glinting with the distinct hint of trouble. His jet black hair had the rather satisfying effect of sticking up in several directions, he liked it that way, even if it did make him look a bit dotty."James! Sirius! Remus!" A high-pitched voice exclaimed, and a podgy teenager came scurrying from the crowd, tripping over his trainers and skidding a few feet.  
  
Sirius and Remus exchanged James a look of amusement between themselves before going to help him.  
  
"Slow down, Wormtail, you're a health hazard when you try to run," James joked, bending down with Sirius to help him up.  
  
"Yeah, Wormtail, really, you need to work on that hand/eye coordination thing, before you get someone killed," Sirius added, his impish grin appearing once again.  
  
"Oh! Sirius! I heard you ran away this summer, you're living with James right? What did your parents say?" Peter asked, squealing excitedly.  
  
Sirius clenched his jaw and an odd glazed look came over his face, he looked away from Peter, almost making as if to stand up and leave.  
  
Both James and Remus noticed Sirius' change in countenance, and shared a furtive glance at one another.  
  
"Not now, Peter," Remus hissed, so that Sirius couldn't hear. Peter looked confused, his watery eyes darting from Remus to James and Sirius.  
  
James was desperately searching for a distraction, noting that Sirius had both of his fists clenched, as if in preparation for a fight.   
  
"Snivellus," James said loudly, praising Snape's timing.  
  
Sirius' head snapped around to see where James was looking, and his eyes narrowed into slits as he watched their greasy haired Slytherin friend amble towards to the train carriages.  
  
His sly smile returned and he looked at James waywardly. "I think we should pay Mr. Snape a visit, Mr. Prongs..."  
  
James looked heartened by Sirius' change in mood, but he heard the whistle blow and the conductor cry out 'All aboard!"  
  
"It might have to wait, Padfoot," James whispered conspiratorially.   
  
Sirius smiled, and he looked positively wicked. "I think the wait might be worth it," he said wildly.  
  
They began to board the train, Sirius seemed to be back in spirits again, already organising his next attack on Snape with devious enjoyment.   
  
"Maybe we could hex him so that grease pours from him in buckets...what's that incantation again, James?"  
  
"Pinguesco," replied Remus, not looking up from his book, a frown forming on his lips.  
  
"He doesn't need help with that, Padfoot," James pointed out.   
  
"Right, yeah," Sirius said distractedly, running his hands through his hair repeatedly. "It has to be something really big, something we haven't done before..." Sirius began to list all of the curses, hexes, jinxes and charms he could think of, suggesting them out loud then refuting the idea soon after.  
  
Remus looked over the top of his book at James, a disapproving expression on his face, but James didn't care; he was just pleased that he could get Sirius's mind off the events of the previous summer, glad that he had been able to divert his attention before Peter could say something really stupid and set him off.  
  
He gazed out of the window, watching the scenery drift past, and he thought back to the night that Sirius had turned up, literally, on their doorstep, the desperation in his eyes as he had asked if he could stay with them for a while.  
  
His parents had been quite accommodating, being quite fond of Sirius, and none of them had asked any questions as they helped him bring his luggage to the guestroom.  
  
But they had all noticed the welts and bruises on his arms.  
  
James had silently helped Sirius get settled in, waiting until his parents had stopped fussing over him so that he could ask.  
  
"What happened?" James said tentatively. Sirius sat on the edge of the bed, and James stood over him with his arms crossed, his expression somewhere between concern and fury.  
  
Sirius barked out a laugh and eyed James with the his trademark smile, "Apparently," he said slowly, "my parents did have objections to my leaving. Apparently," he said, drawing out the word, "I may be a disgrace to the name of Black, but that doesn't mean I 'can just walk out of this house so easily!'" He screeched the last part in a voice convincingly like his own mother's.  
  
Sirius still had a grin on his face, which seemed to irritate James. "Look, can't you be serious?" James demanded loudly and Sirius smiled at the word 'serious', preparing to offer his usual rebuttal: But I am! However, as James glared at him, Sirius could see that he was fuming with anger.

"Tell me what happened."  
  
Sirius sighed resignedly, his posture slumped and the grin slid off his face; he really didn't want to talk about, didn't want to let James know that he'd been weak, didn't want to see the pity in his eyes.  
  
"Fine," he said tiredly, "fine. I've had enough, had enough of my family, my father, my mother." He sneered, "This afternoon she decided to give me a 3 hour lecture on the importance of blood, see, I guess she heard about my little tryst with those muggle girls..." he trailed off, "and I didn't react to it well," he shrugged, "I guess I gave her a little piece of my mind, told her that I didn't care about blood, that it didn't matter to me, that there were more important things in life than blood," he shook his head, "told her that she was a bitter old hag who was stupid enough to believe that kind of crap, told her she could go get buggered too, by a Muggle no less, " he finished, raising his eyebrows in exclamation.   
  
The fury had been removed from James' expression, now to be replaced by a look of celebration with his friend, but it was brief, and soon to be replaced by concern again.  
  
"Predictably, neither she, nor my father were too impressed by that comment, he grabbed me by the arm, tried to hold me down, but I had my wand with me, managed to knock him back a few feet before I ran upstairs, packed everything and made a run for it..." he paused, his eyes went dark as he remembered something, "Stupid, bloody idiot," he muttered.  
  
"What?" James inquired softly.  
  
"Regulus," Sirius explained, "He tried to stop me, thought he'd have a go for the' family honour' or whatever," he looked down at his bruised and battered arms. "He hits like a girl," he snorted. "Anyway, he slowed me down, and that gave my dear parents enough time to catch up with me, to try to hold onto me, stop me from going for God knows what reason, I mean, it's not as if they ever wanted me there...anyway, the short and hairy of it is, that I got away and now I'm here and I'm not going back." He stared determinedly up into James' eyes, daring him to feel pity.  
  
James seemed to be deep in thought; he sat down on the bed next to Sirius, his hands clasped on his lap. "You can stay for as long as you want. Mum and Dad won't mind. Dad will go back and get the rest of your stuff, with some of his friends...oh I want to see the look on their faces..."  
  
"No," Sirius said suddenly, "I want to go back...you can come with me, just...I need to do it,"  
  
"Don't be daft! They'll kill you!" he exclaimed, only half joking.   
  
"Nah, they won't, but they need to know that I'm serious," he finished, the smile already spreading on his face.  
  
"I know you are!" James laughed and he wrapped his arm around Sirius' shoulder, pulling him in for a rare hug. Their heads touched briefly and James said affectionately, "I'm glad you're here, Padfoot."   
  
Sirius smiled candidly at James, "Thanks Prongs," he said and briefly threw his own arm around James' shoulder. "Now geroff, you great dolt!"

"James? Oi, James!"  
  
James was snapped back to reality by Sirius' hands waving in front of his face. "Hello, earth to James, you in there Prongs? I think he's finally gone mad, Moony, his eyes have got that funny glazed-over look...but then, perhaps he was thinking about someone, a certain redhead..." Sirius finished with a leering grin.  
  
"Shove off, Padfoot," James replied testily, pushing him out of the way, Sirius fell back into his seat, long limbs flailing, his bark-like laugh sounding.  
  
"Honestly mate, I don't know why you keep on chasing her, I mean, she's not likely to give in anytime soon to your, ahem, persuasive charms," he teased.  
  
Remus had put the book back in his lap to watch the proceedings with amusement. He knew that Sirius had hit a sore spot mentioning Lily, even though it was all in fun, always in fun.  
  
James shook his head at Sirius, who was still cackling with laughter. He knew that Sirius had been baiting him; it seemed to be a kind of game to Sirius, the Mention Lily Evans and See How Flustered James Gets Game.  
  
"Ah, come on Prongs," Sirius reasoned after he had straightened himself up, "There are plenty of girls out there who love it if you looked their way. You'd be doing them a service if you gave them a bit of attention, make 'em feel all special, Prongs."  
  
"That your philosophy too, Sirius?" Remus said disinterestedly.  
  
"Ah, well, I've got to do my bit for the needy," he shrugged gleefully.  
  
"I think they would appreciate it a lot more if you could remember their names," scoffed Remus.  
  
Sirius' grin stretched on his face, "I can only give so much, Moony," he declared, his hand on his heart sanctimoniously.  
  
Remus just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Get a grip, Padfoot."   
  
Sirius was about to retort, no doubt with some lurid comment, but was interrupted by the door sliding open.  
  
The famous Lily Evans popped her head inside and Sirius shot a leering grin at James whose hand had immediately reached to ruffle his already messy hair.  
  
She briefly glanced at the scene before her; Sirius's long legs were stretched out haphazardly over both sides of the compartment, resting on the seats, his shoulder length black hair hanging in front of his dark eyes that were now watching her carefully. Peter was bundled next to James, sleeping, and James was sitting opposite Sirius at the window, staring questioningly at her. So was Remus, though the two boys' expressions were quite different; James was watching her with eagle-eyed intensity, whereas Remus looked up at her with mere interest, there was kindness in his countenance.  
  
" 'Lo, Evans," Sirius said merrily.  
  
She didn't acknowledge his greeting and instead threw him a look of contempt and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Remus, we're needed up in the prefect's compartment, new instructions," she explained and he nodded and stood up.  
  
"Bye Evans..." Sirius said in a singsong voice to which she sighed heavily.  
  
"Guess I'll be seeing a lot of you two then," she said, but not maliciously, more like tired acceptance. She turned on them, her startling green eyes focusing on the lounging figure before her.   
  
"Well," he said flippantly, "we do try to keep up appearances,"  
  
There was a tight smile on her face, something akin to McGonagall's.   
  
"Careful, Evans, the wind might change," Sirius said, his dark eyes alight with danger.  
  
She just turned and stalked out muttering "Idiot." Remus turned to his friends, shrugged and followed her out.  
  
"We miss you already!" Sirius called out after her.  
  
"Honestly, I still don't know how you can put up with them," she said once Remus and Lily were both out in the train hall.  
  
"They're an acquired taste," Remus said with a kind smile.  
  
Lily snorted, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "Yeah, _acquired_," she said, emphasizing the word, and Remus gave a little laugh at her frustration. Lily Evans had no time for the Marauders and their, what she called, 'silly little games.' It wasn't that she hated them, she just grew tired of their childishness. Remus seemed to be the only one she could stand, even though she was wary of him at first because of his ties to Potter and Black; but she soon found his temperament to be much like her own, and so they found themselves friends, Lily was a particularly good study buddy, he couldn't ask James and Sirius, who had never needed to study in their lives, but Lily was always willing to help others, something for which she was greatly admired for at Hogwarts, in all houses.  
  
Remus knew how much it irked James to see Lily friendly with anyone, especially a guy, especially one his Marauders.  
  
He tended to steer clear of this fact in conversations.  
  
The two of them reached the prefect's compartment and listened to their instructions just as they had done last year, neither of them suspected that being a sixth year prefect was any different to being a fifth year prefect, but still, you never knew.  
  
"Have a good summer, Remus?" Lily asked politely as they walked back to their companions.  
  
"Pretty good," Remus replied, "and yours?"  
  
"Had to spend it at my aunt's with my sister Petunia," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Bonding session, apparently."  
  
Remus chuckled, knowing full well that Lily did not get along with her sister, seeing as she didn't understand about her being a witch. Remus knew full well what it was like to be misunderstood.  
  
"Later then," he said as she slipped back into her own compartment.  
  
She smiled brightly, her brilliant green eyes crinkling up, "You bet—oh, and tell Black that this year he's not to go into the girl's dormitories...I don't know how he did it last year, but I don't ever want to wake up in the same room with him ever again." She sighed.  
  
He nodded and shook his head walking back to his own friends, currently in a rather animated conversation about Quidditch, but at the second of Remus entrance, James became quiet and Sirius looked a little disgruntled.  
  
"So..." James urged.  
  
"So what?" Remus inquired, knowing full well what James had meant.   
  
"So what did she say?" James said, frustrated.  
  
"Oh, nothing really, thinks you're all prats, she had a bad summer and, oh Sirius, she wants you to keep out of the girl's dorms this year," Remus replied quickly.  
  
Sirius barked out a laugh again, "Yeah right," he laughed, "Evans isn't going to keep me out of there, if Dumbledore can't, then Evans isn't bloody likely to, is she?"  
  
But James ignored Sirius and focused on Remus, "Why was her summer so bad?"  
  
Remus shrugged, plonking himself back into his seat, "Just had to spend it with Petunia is all,"  
  
"Who?"   
  
"Her sister," Remus explained.  
  
James ran a hand through his hair again, he hated that Remus knew more about Lily than he did, hated that Remus could have a conversation with her that didn't involve Lily telling James to 'deflate his head' or 'jump in the Lake', but he hoped he didn't let it show.  
  
"And that's a bad thing because..." James goaded.  
  
"Because her sister thinks that Lily is some kind of monster, doesn't understand about her being a witch," Remus sighed.  
  
James felt a flush of anger towards this stranger who shared Lily's blood, and also something resembling jealousy towards Remus, which he quickly swallowed.  
  
Sirius nudged him with his foot, his expression darkly contemplative, "Quit obsessing mate, let her be 'the one that got away', you're wasting your time with her,"  
  
James remained silent and returned to intently staring out the window, trying to think of reason after reason why Lily would continually spur his advances.  
  
He couldn't be as disgusting as she said he was, could he?  
  
Well, he was disgusting to her and that's all that mattered, wasn't it?   
  
Sirius continued to watch James with the same expression on his face, his brows were furrowed and he continued to stare at him intently.   
  
Remus watched this interaction with mild interest, but he soon resumed his book.  
  
It was another hour before he there was another sound in the room, apart from Peter's assorted snorts and wheezes.  
  
"I'm _bored_" Sirius moaned, his arms folded across his chest.   
  
"Then find something to do," James suggested, still gazing distractedly out the window.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well, you could have a nice little nap like Wormtail here," Remus said, indicating the snoring and spluttering figure before him.  
  
Sirius snorted, "Yeah right,"  
  
"I think a little nap would do you w world of good, Padfoot, you're cranky if you don't have a nice little afternoon sleepy time," Remus teased.  
  
Sirius simply raised an eyebrow and smiled at the joke, shaking his head at Remus.

"Come on, not long to go anyway, here," Remus said, tossing him a book, "you can read this,"  
  
Sirius dropped the book as if he was allergic to it, "Pwhht, I don't need to read anything, I know it all,"  
  
Remus stared at him with a bemused expression, "Then why don't you go revise it all in your head and think of a whole different language til we get to Hogwarts then?"Sirius smiled broadly, turning back to the still quiet James, "Come on Prongs, you've been a bore the whole trip, up for a bit of fun?"   
  
James looked up at him, he smiled at Sirius' restlessness, "Settle down, mate, we'll be there soon, we can have as much fun as your little Black heart desires when we get there, just sit still for now,"  
  
Sirius looked disheartened, his expression dropped into a scowl as he relaxed back into his seat, still sprawled over both sides of the compartment, but as always, he listened to James.  
  
45 minutes later they had arrived at the station, Sirius had gently woken Peter by yelling in his ear and laughing maniacally, James and Remus just laughed and shook their heads, stepping off the train.Sirius stretched his long legs out, complaining about the lack of space in the compartments.  
  
"No, Sirius, you're just an abnormally tall freak," James had commented lazily.  
  
They grabbed another coach and headed towards Hogwarts, all four of them stared out the window as they approached it, never quiet overcoming the awe that the castle had instilled in them.  
  
They entered the Great Hall, all still laughing about the various things they had done during the summer, though they managed to catch snatches of harried conversation among others.  
  
_"Did you hear about those muggle killings?"_  
  
_"My dad said that he's becoming more powerful, that nobody can stop him..." _

_  
__"He's taking over, it's starting..."_  
  
James knew that that summer had been particularly eventful, strange muggle deaths had almost doubled in the last year, there were disappearances within the magical community, deaths...all leading to something. Everyone knew that Voldemort was rising, James and Sirius had experienced this quite close up, with the Potters being high up in the Ministry of Magic, and Sirius' family being, well, in agreement with the stance that Voldemort and his supporters had taken.  
  
Things were becoming more and more dangerous, there was a certain disquiet among the whole wizarding community.  
  
They plonked down into their seats, Sirius was winking and waving at various girls already, while other girls were staring hopefully at James, who simply flashed them a smile, at which they all burst into furious giggles.  
  
Peter eyed the girls with intent hope, knowing that he could never catch one of his own, but maybe one of Sirius' cast offs...  
  
The hall became silent as the Sorting Hat was brought out and placed on a stool, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus looked on with a sense of nostalgia, remembering their own sorting fondly.  
  
They listened in silence as the first years were sorted, cheering whenever they got a new Gryffindor, they then became silent as Dumbledore approached the podium, he waited for all to become silent before speaking.  
  
"First of all, welcome to our new students, I know that in the coming years you shall all find various ways of ending up in my office," he said, with a twinkling in his eyes, the Marauders knew was directed at them, "and also, welcome back to all our students, I expect great things from you all this year, especially..." he paused, "especially in the face of such adversity," the twinkle was gone from his eye, replaced by a fierce intensity now, "no doubt you will have all heard about the various attacks this summer, no doubt you must have felt the fear of uncertainty, knowing the risk we all undertake in such dark times, but we must remain strong, we must face these trials together, as divided we cannot hope to conquer Voldemort," he continued, unmoved by the audible gasp that went as His name was spoken, "I must ask you all to triumph over your fears and try to band together in these uncertain times," he finished, staring out over the sea of faces now gazing up at him, he could see the looks of fear and puzzlement flickering on their young features.   
  
He cast a quick glance at the Marauders, gauging their reactions, Remus young, but lined face was poised in askance, as were James and Sirius', Peter's eyes were flickering around the room uncertainly, as if he was unsure of what to feel.

Dumbledore sat down again, his expression pensive, he clapped his hands and a feast appeared on the table, James, Sirius and Remus were still staring at him, as were some of his other students that had picked up the hidden warning in his words.But their wariness over his words faded as they hesitantly started to eat and converse with their fellow students, and Dumbledore smiled, They should be allowed their innocence, hard times are coming, let them enjoy themselves, let them have their fun... 


	2. Chapter 2

Things had relaxed into a pleasant rhythm, classes, Hogsmeade and Quidditch, James had found to his delight that he had been nominated as Quidditch captain by their former captain Martin Dervish.  
  
Something that undoubtedly called for a celebration.  
  
"Oi, James!" Sirius called out from the banisters in the Gryffindor common room, "Are we having fun yet?"  
  
James smiled up him, "I see you are," he said, referring to the girl hanging from Sirius' arm.  
  
Sirius raised his Butterbeer at him and cackled madly.  
  
James shook his head, smiling:_ What has he spiked his drink with?_ He wondered, chuckling to himself.  
  
Remus was standing uneasily with James, uncomfortable with the rabble, the swelling crowds of well-wishers that had flocked to James' side.  
  
"We knew you'd get it James," said Daniel Rodgers, Keeper for the Gryffindor team, he slapped him on the back and mock saluted him, "Oh Captain, my Captain," falling into a low bow, he backed away humbly.  
  
James smiled broadly, laughing at Rodgers with Remus, who was still retreating shyly from contact with everyone.  
  
"Have some fun, Moony," James whispered, seeing that Remus had now backed himself into a dark corner, "Come on, you're big enough and ugly enough to step out on your own," he chided teasingly.  
  
Remus just smiled accommodatingly and replied, "I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you, make sure you, ahem, don't get out of control..."  
  
James guffawed loudly, at the mere suggestion that anyone could control him. "Evans' words?" he asked.  
  
Remus nodded, "I think she's waiting for Sirius to fall into her trap," he said, eyes flickering to where Sirius was merrily singing the school song with a couple of guys.  
  
"Should we tell him?" Remus asked bemusedly.  
  
James shook his head, "I want to see Evan's get all riled up," he commented happily.  
  
Lily, currently, was talking with Pollyanna Biggerstaff, a Fifth Year; James was eyeing her almost predatorily.  
  
"Why won't she go out with me?" James moaned dramatically.  
  
"I'd say it's because you're a conceited prat, but that's just me," Remus suggested casually.  
  
James glared at him, but then his face split into a wide grin.  
  
"Go talk to her," Remus urged, "civilly," he added.  
  
"I'm always civil!" James replied, shocked, to which Remus just raised his eyebrows, "Okay, okay, civil, right, I can be civil," he said, prepping and preening himself, hands nervously raking through his hair.  
  
He approached Lily, filled with forced confidence, and he tapped her on the shoulder, "Hello," he cooed, wide grin still on his face.  
  
For a moment it looked like she didn't know whether to smile or glare, but this indecision was only brief and she smiled politely up at James, who was almost a head and shoulders taller than her.  
"Congratulations Potter," she said kindly, but tightly.  
  
James was so thunderstruck by this reaction, that he was momentarily speechless, finally he spluttered stupidly, "Ah, yeah, thanks I guess,"  
  
"So, er, did you have a good summer?" she asked, he could see that she was growing uncomfortable.  
  
And he was too, the way she had responded to him was alien, and they were both venturing into new territory, still unable to get out a single coherent thought, he rounded on her, eyes narrowing and stood in stance he was most used to when dealing with her, "What, no yelling about the party? About how I'm just an irresponsible prat with a superiority complex who gets by with favoritism and dumb luck?"  
  
She smiled lightly at him, her green eyes flashing dangerously, "No, that will come later, but this is your party after all, didn't want to be rude," she explained, the tone of her voice clipped and proper.  
  
"And I know how to have fun, Potter," she said, and laughed airily, "I rather enjoy a good celebration," she said, her eyes scanning the merriment that surrounded her.  
  
James smiled curiously down at her, still feeling a little unsure as to how to go from here, he opened his mouth to speak when they heard a loud bang coming from somewhere above them.  
  
Lily's eyes snapped up to where the sound had come from and she smiled slightly, she then bolted up the stairs leading to the girl's dorms.  
  
They heard her laugh as she and another girl helped a slightly dazed looking Sirius down from upstairs and lay him down on the couch.  
  
Lily had a broad grin on her face; her eyes were illuminated as she shook her head down at Sirius, who gaze was now refocusing, rather accusatorily at her.  
  
"What did you do?" he demanded croakily.  
  
She smiled sweetly down at him, "Well, I knew you'd figured out a way to by pass the charm on the stairs so, ye of little faith, I put another one on the door," she said, mischief twinkling in her eyes, "I knew you wouldn't bother checking, so I figured it would get you by surprise,"  
  
Sirius scowled at her, but there was something like laughter brewing behind his eyes.

"Oh, ha ha," he said testily, pushing himself back up, then he gave her his most charming smile, "I'll get you back, you know,"  
  
Lily shook her head, still smiling "You're all talk Black," she retorted, turning abruptly and walking back to her friends...the ones who weren't cooing over the 'injured' Sirius Black.  
  
James was still gaping disbelievingly at her retreating back, Remus came up behind him, slapped him on the back, "How'd it go?" he said laughingly.  
  
James just sent him a scathing look and sat down heavily on a well-cushioned couch, legs stretched out in front of him, he was deep in thought when he was approached by Martina Coately.  
  
"James," she purred, kneeling in front of him, her eyes alight with lust.  
  
"Oh, hey Martina," he said distractedly.  
  
She bit her lip enticingly, placing a hand on his knee, rubbing it slightly; "I thought you might want to...celebrate, with me...alone."  
  
James looked down at her, taking a few moments to absorb what she was saying, "Oh, ah, what? No, some other time maybe, I'm..." he desperately tried to think of an excuse for passing up the opportunity with the very delectable Martina, "I'm really tired,"  
  
She looked crestfallen, "Oh, well, maybe some other time then,"  
  
He got up from his seat, and made to go upstairs, "Ooo, James, I can't believe that you actually just gave up the chance to spend some time with _Martina Coately_," Peter squeaked.  
  
James chuckled and patted Peter on the shoulder, "I'm kind of tired, Peter, there'll be plenty of chances to be alone with Martina Coately later, you should go have some fun, I'm off to bed," he trudged up the stairs, casting one last glance at Lily, who had thrown her hair back as she laughed with her friends, he watched it shake and shimmer in the dying glow of the fire, admiring her quietly for just a moment before turning into his dorm, alone. 


	3. Chapter 3

3 months passed, without any real event, just the odd prank from the James and Sirius, nothing unusual, (well, that thing with the shrinking clothes had been interesting for the Slytherins) but with the steady flux of more and more reports of strange and violent deaths, the atmosphere had become a little stifling, everyone was eager to get home to their parents over the holidays, to make sure that they were alright...as if a bunch of teenaged wizards could stop fully grown dark wizards who didn't care who they killed or how they did it.  
  
On the final day before holidays, everyone was out in the grounds, building snowmen or, as in the case of Sirius and James, bewitching snowballs to chase after certain enemies.  
  
Lily was sitting with her friend Marjorie Dawson, discussing what they were going to get up to over the Christmas break.  
  
"Just a family thing," Lily was saying, "I expect Petunia will be bringing her new boyfriend though," she rolled her eyes, "probably a bigger idiot than she is."  
  
Several snowballs started to attack the both of them, and they turned to face the perpetrators, after muttering a couple of immobilising spells.  
  
Remus looked disapproving, but James, Peter and Sirius were getting a good giggle out of seeing the rage in Lily's eyes. She stood up and shook the snow from her hair, fixing up the bun she'd put it in.  
  
"Very clever, Black, Potter," she drawled.  
  
"Aw, come on Evans, it was only a little bit of Christmas cheer," Sirius said, as he and James came over to help her get tidied up.  
  
"You think you're so funny," Marjorie spat at them, brushing the snow out of her dark hair.  
  
"Yeah, we kinda do, you're right," James said stoically.  
  
Lily just glared at him, but he held out a hand to help her up, saying "Care to spend some time with me over Christmas, Evans? Come on, go out with me..." she complied to his gesture with a shy smile on her face and as soon as she had stood up, she pushed a handful of snow down the back of his robes, causing him to yelp with surprise.  
  
She quickly stalked off, yelling over her shoulder, "I hope you freeze to death, Potter!"  
  
Sirius came to stand by his still shivering friend, who was staring after Lily with a look that can only be described as 'pathetic shock'. He laughed and slapped James on the back with vigour.  
  
"Ah, Prongs, you are yet to understand the finer points of women," Sirius said, throwing his arm around his neck, commiserating with him.  
  
"And you do?" Remus asked incredulously.  
  
Sirius leered at him, "I know enough,"  
  
"I just don't get it," James spluttered, "I mean, every other girl, every other _normal _girl throws themselves at me...I've never had to fight for one like this, what's wrong with her?" he demanded, almost angrily.  
  
Remus, Sirius and Peter looked at each other, "We have explained that whole 'conceited prat' thing before haven't we?" Remus asked in a tone of mock seriousness.  
  
James just shook the rejection off, as he had done for the past 2 years, knowing that later he would mull over it until his brain hurt.   
  
After saying their goodbyes and promising to keep in touch, the Marauders had gone their separate ways, or rather, Remus and Peter had gone their separate ways, Sirius and James went home together, seeing as he now lived there.  
  
Much gossip had gone around about Sirius running away from home, but the Marauders had purposely kept it to themselves, even Peter had learnt to deflect questions about Sirius. To take his mind off things, James had suggested a little 'extra-curricular' activity, which concerned mapping out the premises of Hogwarts, for the future benefit of troublemakers like themselves, they had spent many evenings finding the correct charms and incantations, memorising passwords and passages, it was a pleasant distraction from the world.  
  
Andreus Potter and his wife Eleanor were waiting out the front of their home, broad grins on their faces.  
  
James had taken after both of his parents, he had his father's unruly black hair and stature, but he had his mother's hazel eyes and shared the same affliction of having to wear glasses.  
  
"James!" Eunice said, running towards him with arms outstretched, she enveloped him in a tight hug, Sirius snickered as he watched James struggle to wrench himself from her grip, quite an amusing spectacle, considering James was a full 2 foot tall than her.  
  
"Okay, mum, yeah, I missed you too,"   
  
She let go of James and rushed at Sirius, who looked positively dumbstruck and more than a little frightened.  
  
"You didn't think you'd escape did you, Sirius?" James said drolly, shaking his father's hand. But Sirius now had a broad smile on his face, and he returned the hug affectionately.  
  
"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said, "But I'm going to need my ribs in full working condition if I ever want to breathe again,"   
  
She broke away from him, her face alight with laughter, "It's Ellie, Sirius, you're family now," she said warmly, clasping his hand.  
  
James watched the blush rise in Sirius cheeks with a soft smile; he knew that receiving this kind of affection must be somewhat strange to him.  
  
Andreus shook Sirius hand cordially, "Welcome home boys," he said brightly and they walked inside, their trunks floating behind them.  
  
The warmth felt at their reception had ebbed away as they reached the dining room, Andreus and Eleanor were throwing anxious looks at one another and Sirius and James didn't have to wonder what they were about.  
  
"Just say it," James said cautiously, but confidently, both he and Sirius were watching them intently, a dark sense of foreboding behind both of their eyes.  
  
Andreus smiled slightly, proud of the aptitude of both of the boys, but he cleared his throat and looked suddenly quite serious.  
  
"Your mother and I were debating on whether or not we should tell you this, or rather, how much we should tell you, but we feel it's only fair, and after all, there's no doubt you will have heard the rumours, it's better you get the facts from us...yes, much better,"  
  
"Just tell us dad," James said abruptly.  
  
Andreus smiled that same smile James had inherited, "You're quite right. Now, boys, you have probably heard various rumours and speculations about the rise of the dark wizard Voldemort," the Potters had never shied from using his real name, "You will have read about the number of deaths concerned with the Dark Arts, and I know that Dumbledore will have warned you, being the highly sensible man that he is...these are dark times, boys, and they are about to get a whole lot darker...because of our, your mother and I's jobs at the Ministry, mean that we are quite involved in this, we have been able to track various happenings, trying to keep up with Him, but as usual, the Ministry is 3 steps behind," he scowled, "we know that he gathering strong support from many wizarding families who share his views about blood purity," he said this with a specific and remorseful glance at Sirius, who looked as if he had been expecting this, "No, don't worry, Sirius, your family has done nothing in an official capacity to support Voldemort, but we do still maintain a close eye on them,"  
  
Sirius looked somewhat relieved but he still scowled, "Won't be long, now, they'll be throwing dinner parties in his honour, printing up 'I Love Voldie' T-Shirts" he said darkly  
  
James just raised his eyebrows and smiled sympathetically, patting him on the back with a strong arm.   
  
"That's not all," Andreus said hesitantly, trying to pull up the strength to continue, "There...there...lately the Ministry has been extremely busy, trying to keep control over the scourge that is taking over...your mother and I have been doing a lot of field work and, well, there is a chance that we may suffer injury or death in battle," James' and Sirius' eyes darkened, Eleanor had an uneasy smile on her face and was fidgeting terribly, "we want...we want you to be prepared for that eventuality, if it is one of course," he added quickly, "Just in case we don't make it or we get hurt...we know that you are very brave, both of you, but we want you to understand the danger everyone is in at these times."   
  
He finished, watching the two boys process the information, seeing no shock, little fear, but a lot of worry, in their eyes, and he swallowed; it had been hard to say those things, they were still children but they needed to know.  
  
"Thanks for telling us, dad," James said, sincerely hoping that his voice didn't sound strained.  
  
Sirius nodded, "What can we do?"  
  
Andreus rocked uncertainly on his chair, "You can be safe, Sirius, you and James can stay out of trouble," a smile crossed his face fleetingly, "or cut back a bit, anyway,"  
  
James and Sirius laughed a little at thought of staying out of trouble, but the atmosphere was still quite tense.  
  
"We'll try dad, but don't expect too much," he said with his casual smile spreading on his face.  
  
Andreus and Eleanor laughed with their son, remembering the various owls that had been sent home this year telling of the various mischiefs he and his friends had gotten up to.   
  
Sirius still looked wary, his worried look did not fade, and it still had not faded as Sirius left to go to bed, silent and alone.   
  
James knew that he was bothered by his family's connection with the Dark Arts, and knew which side they would take, James knew that as much as Sirius loathed and despised everything his family stood for, they were still his family and knowing what they would do...he knew the thought must be haunting Sirius.  
  
He decided it would better to let Sirius think about it on his own, he would come to him when he was ready.  
  
The days passed, and soon Christmas had passed, the holidays were spent blissfully at the Potter Manor, whether it was James and Sirius mucking around in the snow, or trying to perfect the map and generally, their conversation never strayed to what was happening outside in the Wizarding world, they just tried to enjoy it.  
  
Soon enough the holidays were over and they were back within the walls of Hogwarts, James and Sirius had felt uneasy about going back, given the warning James' father had given them, the two boys had both momentarily thought about whether or not it would be the last time they saw them.  
  
But they had managed to settle back in reasonably well, sharing the information with Remus and Peter about Voldemort's uprising.   
  
"Yeah, my dad told me something similar," Remus had said, an expression of worry in his eyes, "But then again, there's not much we can do, is there?"  
  
James and Sirius had agreed, but in their minds they were trying to think of ways they could help, Peter had looked terrified throughout the whole story and after.   
  
"Don't stress, Peter," Sirius had said kindly, "Voldemort's," Peter winced at the name, "hardly going to try anything with Dumbledore around, he's the only thing he fears, mate, and we'll look after you," he said, placing a comforting hand on Peter's quivering shoulder, who whimpered gratefully.   
  
Winter passed, and Spring came upon them, all were grateful to get out and stretch their legs on the Hogwart's ground...for Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, this also meant that their moonlit strolls were a little more comfortable.  
  
James had still constantly approached Lily, almost begging her to date him, but she had insisted that he was still a selfish git and would not concern herself with the likes of him, instead she had taken to dating Thurston Padget, a Ravenclaw 7th year, who, James thought, had all the charm of a weak tea.  
  
But he resigned himself to weary acceptance, spending more time with the Sirius, Peter and Remus to plan out their next mode of attack on the hapless students and teachers of Hogwarts.  
  
Quidditch training had started again, and that often kept James and Sirius busy in the afternoons, as James did not want to lose their next match against Slytherin. A sentiment shared by every other house and all of the students within them.   
  
Today, however, there was no Quidditch practice, James had decided to let everyone have a well deserved break, this left the four of them to an afternoon of lazing around near the lake, a place conveniently chosen so that James could watch Lily talk with her friends, who were sitting to their left under an old oak tree.   
  
"Anyone been noticing Snape nosing around about where Remus goes on full moon?" Sirius said in a conspiratorial whisper.   
  
Remus looked more than a little panicked, as he hissed, "What?"  
  
"Yeah, I've been noticing him lately too, just sitting there, behind some bush or tree or something, trying to get a glimpse of where you're going," James explained to Remus, who looked positively petrified.  
  
"Don't stress, Mooney, he hasn't got a clue in that slimy head of his, he just can't keep his honker out of other's people's business, I suspect he's trying to get back at James and figures he can do it through you," Sirius observed, this did little to appease Remus, who was now breathing rather shallowly and looked as if he might faint.  
  
"If he finds out...if he sees me...I don't want to go..." he panted, his voice rising with fear. If anyone found out that he was a werewolf, he would have to leave Hogwarts.  
  
"Relax, Mooney," James said soothingly, "He won't see you, I just reckon he's curious is all, he'll get over it in a while, we'll just give him a, erm, _distraction_," he said, the tone in voice indicating he was going to have a little bit of fun with old Snivellus.  
  
He turned to Sirius to discuss plans, but they were interrupted by a cold and sneering voice.  
  
"Oi, Sirius,"  
  
The four of them turned, Peter's watery eyes darted towards a boy standing roughly 6 feet away from them, he had the same features as Sirius, dark hair and eyes, long limbs and pale skin, but their was something in the way he looked that separated him from Sirius, a cruelty in his features that made Peter shudder.  
  
Remus stopped having his panic attack and stood up with Sirius and James, facing a group of devious looking Slytherins, the rest of the school had seemingly gone quiet and were now all staring at the tense stand off.  
  
"Hello Regulus," Sirius sighed.  
  
Regulus was standing with a group of Slytherins who were all positively vibrating with the excitement of an approaching fight.  
  
"Hello Snivelly," James said coolly.  
  
Snape just scowled.  
  
"Didn't see you at Christmas, brother, too ashamed to show yourself at home? No matter, mother and father have disowned you, said that they didn't want a weak fool like you for a son and after they beat you..."  
  
"What?!" Sirius roared, but Regulus continued on, a little louder, an ugly smirk growing on his otherwise attractive face.  
  
"After father and I had thrown in a few good punches, I knew you'd be too scared to come back; Sirius Black: the wimp!" he crowed and his band of Slytherins laughed uproariously, other students had broken into bursts of gossip, discussing whether or not it was true: the invincible Sirius Black...a victim? A coward?  
  
Everyone was now waiting to see Sirius' reaction, Remus, James and even Peter (who had been sneaking peaks of the stand off from behind his friend's backs) were all glaring murderously and it seemed it would be a question of which one of them would throw the first curse.   
  
Sirius was white and shaking with rage, his hands balled, his wand clenched in one white knuckled fist.  
  
"Not so brave, are you Black, when your mummy and daddy are beating you? Do you cry? Do you scream?" Snape was muttering fervently, though everyone could hear him and the whole school's eyes widened at these cruel remarks, "I bet you do, I bet you beg..." but he never got the chance to finish the sentence, James had cursed him, there was a cold fury in his eyes as he stepped forward, wand raised.  
  
Regulus and the rest of the gang snickered, still confident, still reveling in their 'victory' over Sirius, who was still shaking with rage.   
  
"I told you," Regulus shouted to everyone, "I told you all, my brother is nothing but a mudblood lover: weak, pathetic...look, he doesn't even have the guts to raise his wand!"  
  
But Sirius had dropped his wand and was rushed forward, fists flying, ready to pummel every inch of his accursed brother that he could. He flew at Regulus, pushing him to the ground; he drew back his fist and smashed it into Regulus' face repeatedly.  
  
Remus and James were cursing the rest of the group with Peter shouting support from the sidelines...he was always terrible at dueling and figured (and had been told) that his involvement was always more of a liability than a help.  
  
Sirius continued to pound Regulus, sitting on his chest, pinning him down his arms with his knees, Regulus was struggling beneath him, he was staring up in wide-eyed terror at Sirius, who had a demented look of rage and pain in his eyes.  
  
"You liar!" he screamed, flecks of spit flying down at the shrieking Regulus, "I left because you...you're all disgusting! Filth!" he spluttered, "I would have rather died then spend another night in that house, under their rules! You're nothing but and idiotic," he punched him hard, could feel the ridge of nose shatter, "vile," another blow and blood splattered up onto Sirius face and robes, "pathetic," Regulus had now managed to get his arm free and was desperately reaching for Sirius face, "coward!" Regulus arm fell down limp.  
  
Sirius drew his fist back again, but someone grabbed it and pleaded distraughtly "Stop! You're going to kill him!" Sirius face snapped around, his breathing laboured, he was staring into the startling green eyes of Lily Evans, who wore an expression somewhere between horror and concern. She clasped his fist in her delicate hand, entreating him silently to let it go.  
  
"Please Sirius, it's ok," her voice was forceful, but kind, "stand up, just let him go," she was saying and he felt as if he was waking from a daze, he gaped up at Lily, his mouth slightly open, he removed his hand from Regulus, gawking at his own blood stained hands.   
  
Everyone was frozen; James and Remus had stopped dueling with the Slytherins, they were, as with the rest of the school, watching Sirius and Lily.  
  
Sirius glanced momentarily at the bloody mess that was his brother, at his own hands, then up at Lily again: he looked horrified, his dark eyes, usually twinkling with laughter and mischief were now wide with shock and fear.  
  
He felt sick.   
  
"Just let it go Sirius," Lily was pleading gently, "It's okay now," she released his fist and he lowered it, she then offered him the same hand, palm open, asking him to take it, her long red hair was whipping about in the light breeze, Sirius grappled her hand, still wearing the same vacant expression, she pulled him up, he leaned heavily on her shoulder, as though he was too out of it to move.  
  
"James," she called, looking over at him from beneath Sirius tall frame; he had been watching the whole thing, his hazel eyes not missing a trick, "Come over and take Sirius for me, Remus, Peter, you too," they both ran over, shouldering his deadweight, "I think you should take him back to your dorm, I'll, ah, I'll take care of this, "she said, indicating the fair amount of injured people, whether incapacitated, as several of them were, or merely bleeding or suffering from the after effects of a various jinxes.  
  
Both James and Remus had minor injuries, but Lily knew they wouldn't be concerned about themselves, but more about Sirius and seeing the unstable condition he was in now, well...Lily could see the alarm in their eyes.  
  
"I'll be fine," Lily assured him, her eyes and features were soft, almost serene, but set with a grim determination, "Just take care of him,"   
  
James hesitated for a moment, but staring down at her, looking both at her with both awe and intrigue, he nodded and along with Remus carried Sirius, who's legs weren't fully functioning as yet, he was stumbling and disorientated, his eyes were still unfocused.  
  
He looked back over his shoulder at Regulus and mumbled, "Sorry."  
  
"It's okay, Sirius," James said gruffly, "Come on mate, let's get you out of here," he advised urgently.  
  
Remus caught James' eye, scrutinizing him, "Later," James mouthed, meaning he would explain everything later.  
  
"Nothing to see here," James said loudly as they pushed their way through the mystified crowd, people watched, mouths a gape as they heaved Sirius back to the castle, his legs seemed to work properly now so, they were making the journey quite quickly.   
  
Everyone stared after them, long after they had disappeared through the doors of the castle.  
  
"Right," Lily said abruptly and slowly people turned to her, "we need to get these people up to the Infirmary, "she conjured up a couple of stretchers, "Come on," she said irritably, as they continued to stand there "I can't do this by myself,"  
  
People started to shake themselves from their stupor and came to her aid. The more advanced students conjured up another couple of stretchers, while others helped the less injured up and towards the Infirmary.   
  
Meanwhile James, Remus and Peter had helped Sirius into a chair up in the dormitories, James had ordered everyone else out of there and they were currently trying to assess what was wrong with him.  
  
"He's in shock," Remus said, observing that Sirius was pale and shaking, he placed a hand to his forehead, "He's freezing, we need to warm him up,"  
  
James was almost as pale as Sirius was, but the man looking out from behind his glasses was not the same 16 year old James Potter, Mischief Maker and Practical Joker extraordinaire, the wizard behind the glasses was seething with furious power, the wizard behind his wired glasses seemed much, much older, "Yeah," he said.  
  
Remus stood in front of James, keeping their unblinking connection, he said, "Peter, go down to the kitchens and get some Butterbeer."  
  
Peter squeaked in understanding and scurried off to the kitchens.  
  
James and Remus continued to stare at one another, until they heard Sirius stir behind them.  
  
"I didn't mean to do that," he mumbled quietly.  
  
James and Remus moved him into his bed, taking off his shoes and some of his more bloodied robes; they wrapped him up snugly in blankets and James sat down next to him.  
  
Sirius looked up at him with the appearance of a child, "I didn't mean to do that, James," he whispered fearfully.  
  
"I know mate, I know," James soothed, taking Sirius hand in his own.  
  
"I lost control," he spluttered and James was not surprised to see tears shining in his eyes, "I...oh God, I've killed him! I've killed him," he whispered, watching the scene flash and flicker in his mind: his hands...bones splintering...blood...blood everywhere...on the grass, on his robes, on his hands...Sirius lifted his hands up in front of his eyes, as if seeing them for the first time: they shook terribly, Sirius let out a strangled "Oh!" and began hyper ventilating.  
  
"Breathe, Sirius, breathe. Regulus is alright, he's just a bit bloodied up is all, he'll be fine," James assured.  
  
Remus stood back from them a bit, just observing with his light brown eyes how James calmed Sirius, almost expertly.   
  
"Shhh, Sirius, it's okay now, you did what any of us would have done, you are not as bad as they are," James was reading Sirius fears, the bond between them so palpable, words were unnecessary.  
  
Sirius fearful eyes locked onto James', "I'm not like them, James, I'm not like my family,"  
  
"No, you're not, you are better that them, you know that, everyone knows that," James was speaking with a tenderness that Remus had rarely heard in his voice, but it didn't surprise him.  
  
Peter stumbled in carrying half a dozen bottles of Butterbeer, he looked like he had run a marathon, "I tried to get here as fast as I could," he panted, his face flushed.  
  
"Thanks Peter," Remus said, taking a bottle and uncorking it, "Drink this, it will help warm you up," he entreated Sirius who nodded, the focus slowly shifting back into his eyes.  
  
Remus began to rummage around the room, "Ah," he sighed, frustrated, "I don't have any chocolate with me," he said remorsefully.  
  
"I...I could go get some," Peter offered, feeling useless.  
  
"Thank you," Remus smiled.  
  
Sirius propped up on a couple of pillows, brooding over his drink, his eyes still shining with tears.  
  
Remus went to the bathroom and ran a basin of warm water, he summoned up a cloth and brought it out to Sirius, he began to wipe away some of the blood on his face.  
  
Sirius sniffed and laughed, "You guys don't have to baby me,"  
  
James ruffed up his hair affectionately, "Ah, but you see Sirius, I just don't think you understand the basics of personal hygiene, I reckon its safer if Remus here does it," he joked and Sirius chuckled.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Lily was standing there, looking apologetic. Sirius quickly wiped his eyes with the heel of his palm and avoided looking at her.  
  
"Sorry," she said quietly," James, could I speak with you for a moment? Outside?"  
  
James looked baffled, he threw a glance at Sirius, who in regaining his common sense had also recovered his sense of lurid humour; he raised his eyebrows suggestively and James glared at him, but he strode out, even now, out of nervous habit, his hand automatically went to ruffle his hair.  
  
Lily looked nervous, but serious as she pulled him over to a corner where they wouldn't be over heard by the muttering masses below.  
  
"Thanks," James said, looking upon her with strengthened respect.  
  
Lily pushed some stray strands of hair behind her ears and met his gaze unflinchingly.  
  
"Don't mention it," she said softly, "I know what it's like to have family that don't respect you, don't like you," her was tone grim, "there have been plenty of times when I've wanted to strangle my sister, I suppose that Sirius just had a lot of pent up anger, but it's not his fault he's related to them," she shrugged.  
  
James felt a wave of gratitude and compassion for her and said, "No, but he still feels bad. Regulus, the great wanker, deserved it though,"  
  
"I don't disagree," she said dourly, "Listen, we've managed to get them all up to the Infirmary and Madam Pomfrey thinks they'll all be fine, nothing serious really, and...and I spoke to Dumbledore," James suddenly became extremely tense, "and we all agreed that it was started by Regulus and his gang started it, nearly all of the witnesses agreed, Dumbledore and the other Professors are quite sympathetic, so I doubt you'll have much o worry about, but he still wants to see and Sirius later, when Sirius is feeling up to it, okay?"  
  
James was dumbstruck by her manner and attitude, he was so in ingratiated towards her that he could have kissed her. Of course he often felt that urge, but right now, in his eyes, she was a Goddess.  
  
"You're amazing," he murmured and she laughed.  
  
"I've been telling people that for ages," she said, deadpan.  
  
James smiled easily and for a moment the two of them were enveloped in comfortable silence. She smiled curiously at him, her green eyes staring into his hazel ones.  
  
"Anyway," she said slowly, "I'll let you get back to Sirius, don't burden poor Remus with him too long," she joked feebly, but the truth was that she was beginning to feel uncomfortable under his intense gaze...he made her hesitate, made her uncertain and Lily always liked to be in control of herself.  
  
"Oh, I forgot, Sirius dropped this," she said, digging into her robes and handing him his wand, James extended his arm and Lily saw that blood was seeping through his robes.  
  
"You might want to get that looked at," she said, holding his arm and inspecting it closely, James basked in her delicate touch for a moment...this was a dream come true as Lily had never been anything but prickly as a pincushion towards him.  
  
"Nah, I'll be right, it's just a scratch, nothing major," he said dismissively, smiling broadly...but it was not his usual leering grin, but rather a genuine smile. Lily continued scrutinising his arm for a moment, "All the same, I'll fix you up with some essence of Murtlap, I'll bet Remus has a couple of cuts..." she realised that James was chuckling. "What?" she said, her eyes narrowing, but there was an inquisitive smile on her face.  
  
"Nothing!" James proclaimed, still laughing, "It's just, well, you're such a mother!"  
  
Lily looked murderous for a second, but then her features softened and she laughed with him. Rolling her head back to look at the ceiling, she shook her head.  
  
She had still not let go of his arm.  
  
"I can't help it! You're all such juveniles! _Someone's_ got to take care of you!" she said in a tone of mock exasperation, making both of them laugh harder.   
  
"James?" asked a simperingly sweet voice, James and Lily were unpleasantly interrupted by Martina Coately, her long brown hair tied up in two ponytails on top of her head, she wore an expression that reminded Lily of her sister's face whenever she wanted to use her parents sympathy to get what she wanted.  
  
Martina glanced disapprovingly at Lily and then rushed forward to James, completely ignoring Lily.  
  
"Oh James! I saw what happened! Is Sirius okay? Are you okay?" she said, her voice oozing with pity.  
  
"Er, Martina, I _was_ talking to Lily," he said, a little miffed by her interruption.  
  
"No, it's okay," Lily said quickly, "I best get down to round up the masses, make sure they're all okay, she started to walk away, but she stopped briefly at the top of the stairs, looking pointedly at James, "Tell Sirius...tell Sirius he's not the only one with an idiot sibling."  
  
James desperately wanted to go after her, but Martina was blocking his path, he watched Lily descend the stairs with a longing look in his eyes.  
  
Martina had now grabbed his injured arm and began fretting over it.  
  
"Ooo, James does it hurt terribly?" Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey, I could take you..."  
  
James snatched his arm away from her, "I have to go," he growled, he blamed her for cutting short his time with Lily. He went back into his dorm to find Remus and Sirius talking animatedly, Remus was laughing at the nonsense now pouring out of Sirius's mouth.  
  
James knew that this was a defence mechanism but this was not the time to sit down and have a heart to heart; Sirius liked to work things out on his own.  
  
"Oh, you're back," Sirius said, looking up from his bed, grinning widely, "Did Evans have a special message for you?" he teased.  
  
James grinned back, "For you actually: You're a tremendous git,"  
  
Sirius and Remus laughed heartily for a while, but when they had finished, Sirius spoke up, "No really, what did she say?"  
  
James sighed a little and then told him, "She says that you're not the only one with an idiotic family and that no blames you or believes what Regulus said,"  
  
Sirius nodded, fully appreciative of Lily's comfort.  
  
"She also said that while everyone's fine, Dumbledore still wants to see you and me later,"  
  
Sirius nodded again, he had already been thinking about the repercussions.   
  
Lily stood at the bottom of the stairs, she had immediately been attacked with an onslaught of questions.  
  
"What did James say?"  
"Is Sirius alright?"  
"What happened down there?"  
"What's going to happen to him?"  
  
Lily raised her hands, signaling for silence, "You'll have to talk to James or Sirius about that, whether or not they tell you is their choice, but let me just say this: anything Regulus Black and those other foul Slytherins said about Sirius isn't true and you, as Gryffindors, are all too intelligent to believe it, okay?"   
  
Everyone felt an enormous sense of relief, none of them could really bear the thought of energetic, adorable Sirius Black allowing himself to be abused in such a fashion, others nodded in agreement with Lily's stance.  
  
"Now, I suggest you go back to your business, we've all had enough excitement for one day," she sighed.  
  
Sirius and James, who had heard the whole thing from the top of the stairs, started to clap.  
  
"Here, here!" Sirius said, and Lily gave him a reproachful look...old habits die hard.  
  
They came downstairs, all eyes on them, Sirius sighed, knowing that everyone would want to hear from him, otherwise the rumours would never stop, "Everything Evans said is true," he started, "now, I know you all know that I no longer reside in the Noble House of Black, my 'family'...well, let's just say that my family are none too proud that I'm a Gryffindor and I left because I was disgusted by them, I didn't want to be a part of a family that revered blood above all else," he explained, "nothing that my darling brother Regulus said was true, ignore the bastard: he listens to my parents," there were a few low scattered laughs around the room, some of the younger students were staring up at Sirius with a kind of awe.  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse us, we have an appointment with Dumbledore. Don't wait up," he finished, joking.  
  
James and Sirius started towards the door, Sirius stopped in front of Lily, smiling at her coyly, humility in his eyes, "Thanks Evans," he said simply.  
  
"I didn't do anything," she smiled and the two of them escaped through the door.   
  
Peter came running up from the corridor, breathing heavily and sweating profusely, "couldn't find any in the kitchens! So then I had to ask Terry Randwick if he had any, but he didn't so then I..."  
  
"It's okay, Peter, I'm alright now, thanks anyway, I'll see you later," Sirius said, walking away.  
  
James clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder and nodded approvingly, "You did good Wormtail," he said and then ran after Sirius, who had managed to get quite far away with his casual long strides.  
  
Peter stared after them, watching James grab Sirius's shoulders and push himself up, jumping onto Sirius's back, Sirius threw him off and laughed, showing James into the wall while couple of portraits complained. Sirius threw his arm around James' neck and the two of them stomped down the hallway, cackling madly at one another's jokes and antics.  
  
Peter didn't understand how either of them could act like that: laughing and joking when only an hour or so previous, Sirius hadn't been capable of a single coherent word.   
  
They were his best friends in the whole world, but he was damned if he could understand them.  
  
"Chocolate frog," James said to the gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office. The two of them had been there so many times that they knew the routine by heart.  
  
They approached his desk with some trepidation and to their horror, Dumbledore's expression was quite grim.  
  
"James, Sirius, sit down boys," he said, indicating with one long fingered hand.  
  
They sat down, sharing a quick, tense look at one another before looking straight back at Dumbledore, who was gazing at them over his half moon glasses.  
  
The atmosphere was incredibly nerve-racking, Sirius felt that this was it, he had really done it this time, crossed that one final line...  
  
"Would you like some lemonade?" Dumbledore asked genially and quite suddenly, making James and Sirius all the more confused, they shook their heads slowly, utterly bewildered by his attitude.  
  
Dumbledore conjured up a glass for himself, took a sip and smiled, "I do love how the bubbles tickle one's nose," he laughed softly, "and speaking of noses, Regulus' is fine, as is the rest of him, alive and kicking and quite a lot actually, Madam Pomfrey is having a dreadful time trying to keep him still..."  
  
The both of them laughed a little easier now, but there was still something in the way Dumbledore was looking at them that made them anxious.  
  
Dumbledore judged from their expressions what their fears were and he smiled slightly, "No, you're not going to be expelled Sirius,"  
  
They heaved a sigh of relief.  
  
"But I am most troubled that you waited so long to let it out, Sirius, it can't have been good for your heart,"  
  
"Er..." Sirius started.  
  
"I too know the pain of having a brother who you do not see eye to eye with: Aberforth, excellent though he is, is quite a peculiar fellow and I often find our relationship can be quite strained...but he is my brother," he said in his singsong voice.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said bleakly, "but you're brother isn't a purity nut, he's not into the dark arts either,"  
  
"No," Dumbledore said and he chuckled, "though Aberforth does have his own vices,"   
  
"Look Dumbledore," Sirius said abruptly, "if you want Regulus and me to kiss and make up, well...it's not going to happen, yes, I worry about him, yes he's still my brother, but that's not my fault,"  
  
"I wasn't suggesting anything of the sort Sirius, but I doubt your parents will see it that way..."   
  
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Now there's a Howler I'll be looking forward to,"  
  
Dumbledore laughed his deep, infectious laugh again, "Yes, I daresay it will be explosive,"   
  
Now it was James who spoke up, wanting to get to the point, "Look, if we aren't getting reprimanded or expelled or anything, why did you want to see us?"  
  
"I never said you weren't going to be reprimanded, Professor Denison has demanded at least a weeks' detention for dueling."  
  
"Ah," James said.   
  
"But I also wanted to speak to Sirius about his new living arrangements, as you, erm, forgot to inform me,"  
  
"Oh. Oh that," Sirius said as it dawned on him, "I guess I just didn't think about it,"  
  
"No doubt," Dumbledore smiled, "anyway, I shall be sending this owl to the Potters, it will be a pleasant change considering the number of owls James has merited this year," he said, blue eyes twinkling, "I think you may have set a record," he added affectionately.  
  
James beamed proudly at his unusual achievement.  
  
"Now, I suggest that you two you back to your dorms and prepare for bed, try to get some sleep. Tell Remus that he need not worry, I've convinced Professor Denison that he was trying to control and not exacerbate the situation,"  
  
They nodded and stood up, thanking him, just as they were about to leave Dumbledore spoke again.  
  
"Remember that true brothers have no need for shared blood, their bond extends much deeper than that."   
  
The two of them smiled puzzled at him then at each other, getting his intention, they grinned widely and left to get back to their dorms where they found Peter snoozing in bed.  
  
"All that running tuckered him out," Remus said, he was sitting in an armchair, behind yet another book, "What did Dumbledore have to say?" he placed the book in his lap.  
  
"The usual weird stuff," Sirius told him, "but I'm not expelled, James and I have just got detention for a week, you got off Scot free...must be your devilish good looks,"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes, "Oh. Lily left that for you James," he indicated a large bowl of Murtlap next to James bed, "She said she was sorry she couldn't stay but that she and Thurston had a date,"  
  
James looked rather disgruntled as he sat down on his bed, pulled up his sleeve and pressed the soaked cloth to his wound.  
  
Today had been an interesting day to say the least: Sirius had had a near nervous breakdown and Lily had spoken to him like he was a friend and not a fatal disease.  
  
The image of Lily smiling up at him with kindness danced in front of him and he fell asleep dreaming of her kind eyes and soft hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Lily was frantically trying to concentrate, she was sitting in the common room, her Transfiguration essay in front of her, but she could not. Martina Coatley's voice was ringing in her ears.  
  
"So James said that he thought I was the best looking girl in the whole school and that he would love to take me out sometime, for a little, you know, alone time," she giggled.  
  
Violet Prunella, a willowy girl with long, thick, blonde hair laughed at her, "We've all had alone time with James, Marty, you're not special,"  
  
They had been talking about James for the past hour and half, giggling about his good looks and his talents, both on and off the Quidditch pitch.  
  
Lily found this kind of gossip intolerable, as she usually did when James was the subject, she hated the way girls simply fawned over him and Sirius just because of, urgh, she would not admit it to herself: their good looks.  
  
True, their relationship had changed since the incident with Sirius, but she still regarded Potter worship with abject distaste.  
  
Lately she and Potter had been able to continue a conversation for more than 3 minutes, though he still acted the fool and she still considered him a bully most of the time, she found that her annoyance and frustration with him was now minimal compared to what it had been, and James, to his credit was not as bad as she had originally thought, she had seen another side to him that night, James Potter really cared about his friends, he would protect them no matter the cost, a side that she found intriguing and endearing. Though not completely cleansing, after all, he was still as content with practical joking than ever.  
  
Sirius was now the main offender, he had recovered from his fight with Regulus with a kind of vindictive vengeance, determined to get back at the whole house of Slytherin for associating with his brother.   
  
It had only been 3 weeks and already the effects of Sirius' actions were quite severe: people from Slytherin House found themselves jinxed, cursed and hexed at most times, they were the victims of some of the most cruel practical jokes that Hogwart's had ever seen and now most of the students seemed to be afraid of him, even though they found him funny, even though he was their beloved Sirius Black...the things he was doing scared many.  
  
He reserved a special loathing just for Snape, teasing him and embarrassing him, just as Snape had done to him.  
  
James did nothing to stop him, even involving himself in most of the attacks. Which he was still insisting were harmless, just Sirius way of venting his anger.  
  
Lily disagreed, as much as she felt for his situation, she could not allow him to continue. She just hoped that with 3 weeks left of term and exams to keep him busy that nothing terrible would happen.  
  
She had tried to talk to Remus about it, but he said that there wasn't much chance of controlling him...he just told her to weather the storm out and hope that he came back at the start of next year a fully-grown, mature individual.  
  
Lily had raised an eyebrow at the comment, to which Remus had replied with a wry smile, "Well, let's just hope he's over it, then,"   
  
James had found that Lily was not going to be simply be won by one day of unification against a greater evil (a greater evil than himself that is), she was still quite severe with him, telling him off when he tried to show off, the day after the Sirius had recovered, she had told them off for hexing Snape, but, he noticed, she would sometimes turn away, the inklings of a smile at the edges of her mouth.  
  
But he would not desist in his 'harmless fun', he and Sirius were still very fond of tormenting the Slytherins, James regarded it as a kind of therapy to work all of his frustration out, he didn't see anything wrong with it, it was just as before, only now the 'fun' came hard and fast and more often, James didn't care what Remus or Lily said, he could see life behind Sirius' eyes and that's all that mattered really...there was no harm in it anyway, they were only Slytherins and he was only Snivellus after all.  
  
Snape had been trying to get back at them ever since James had decided it would be funny to curse away his clothes in front of the entire school last year: he had noticed that the four of them would often sneak out of their dorms and disappear into the Whomping Willow...Snape was very interested in where it was that they went...he knew that the teachers must know about it because he had seen Madam Pomfrey down there sometimes, taking Remus Lupin, but still...they were up to something and he wanted to find out what it was, he wanted them to suffer, he wanted them to pay for making his life a living hell for the past 6 years.  
  
Sirius had not forgotten about seeing Snape hiding in the gardens the last time there had been a full moon, and he knew that Snape had been following them around lately, he knew he had to get him off the trail...plus get another one on old Snivellus. Tonight was the full moon, he needed to think of something...  
  
They were sitting in the library during the afternoon, reading up on some extra curricular curses; Snape, as per usual, was buried in a Dark Arts book, his hooked nose almost scraping the page he was reading it so intently. None of his little Slytherin cronies were with him...they were all too afraid of the fact that Snape attracted a lot of revenge from Sirius and James.  
  
Sirius sat lazily in a chair near a window, longs legs spread out in front of him, he had finished reading and was now quite bored, he scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, frowning he noticed Snape, he watched him for a few moments, his dark eyes glittering dangerously.   
  
He had an idea. "Wormtail, come here for a sec," he said, jumping to his feet. Peter looked bewildered, but followed him to behind a bookcase near where Snape was sitting.  
  
Sirius grinned wildly and he said in a very clear voice, "Nah, it's a dead cinch, mate, all you've got to do to get the Whomping Willow to behave is poke the knot near the base of the tree, you know, that big malformed lumpy thing near the rock shaped like a snail,"   
  
Peter looked up at him, utterly baffled, "Wha..." he started, but Sirius silenced him with a finger to his lips, he grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him back over to where they were sitting, making sure that Snape didn't see them, which wasn't a problem, as Sirius could see that he had heard him. Snape's eyes were unfocused and there was a nasty smile itching on his lips.  
  
"Mission accomplished, Wormtail," Sirius whispered and Peter finally understood, he grinned up at Sirius in devilish glee.  
  
"Cool," he whispered and Sirius looked very proud of himself.  
  
Sirius looked at the clock on the wall, but Remus had already noticed the time and he and James were already standing up, ready to leave.   
  
They walked from the room, the same routine they had undertake for the past year, but James was stopped at the door by one of his Quidditch team, who wanted to know the exact time of their next practice and when they were going to audition a new seeker, because Taber Stringfellow was in his final year.  
  
Remus, Sirius and Peter stopped and waited for him, James sighed, "You guys go ahead, this could take awhile, I'll see you later,"   
  
Remus walked off as soon as they left to go out into the corridor, he always went first so as not raise any suspicions.  
  
Doubling back to the Gryffindor Common Rooms they ran into a very terse looking Professor McGonagall, Peter literally slammed into her, he was so eager to get down to the Whomping Willow.  
  
"Watch where you're going, Mr. Pettigrew!" she snapped, as Sirius helped her up.  
  
"Sorry Professor McGonagall, I didn't see you!" Peter whimpered.  
  
"Well that is obvious," she said sharply, "I hope that you are rushing back to get some homework done you certainly need it, your marks have been simply atrocious of late, I would have thought that you might buckle down this year," she lectured, Peter was growing more and more nervous, Sirius' eyes kept darting out the window, he could see the sun setting: they were running out of time.  
  
"I was going to do it now! Of course I was, Professor!" Peter was saying, a pleading tone in his voice.  
  
"Look at the time, Peter!" Sirius said suddenly, drawing both McGonagall's and Peter's attention to him, "Well, I'd love to stick around and chat with you, but I've just remembered I left something in the library, tell James where I've gone, Peter, you know he worries," he said theatrically, bounding off down the hall.   
  
McGonagall shook her head and then continued reaming into Peter.  
  
Sirius sprinted out of the school, very aware that the sun was almost gone, the night was very soon approaching and he was not going to miss out on his glorious revenge on Snivelly.  
  
He quickly transformed into the big bear like dog and hid himself in the undergrowth. He watched as Snape stepped forward tentatively, saw him levitate a stick towards the knot on the tree, making sure it was pressed, he observed Snape's face as he looked at the tree dubiously, then his jubilation when he realised that it had worked, he witnessed Snape creep forward, wand out raised, a triumphant sneer on his face.  
  
If only dogs could smile...

James had managed to sort the matter out and he now trudged up the stairs to the Fat Lady, he entered the room to find Peter sitting at the table, deep in concentration, tongue poking out of his lips.  
  
The scene itself was curious, as James had never seen Peter looked so devoted to his work.  
  
"What are you doing?" James said loudly and he laughed when Peter jumped.   
  
"Oh! James! You scared me!" he gasped, clutching his heart, "I was doing my essay for Professor McGonagall, Sirius and I ran into her on our way back here and she yelled and I don't want her to go mad at me tomorrow so I'm doing it now." He said quickly, but then his voice turned to a whine, "I wish I could be down there with Sirius though, I want to see Snivellus' face when he finds him..."   
  
"What?" James said distractedly, not really listening.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tell you that Sirius is playing this awesome prank on Snape, he'll get him good, James," he said excitedly.   
  
James suddenly became apprehensive, his eyes narrowed and he focused on Peter, who still had a wide and wistful grin on his face.  
  
"Sirius told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow."  
  
James paled, his eyes went wide, thoughts blasted through his head each making him more and more tense: _he couldn't have, could he? He's not that stupid? Surely he's not that careless_.  
  
"How long ago was this?" James demanded so forcefully that Peter nearly fell off his chair.  
  
"Um, he told him in the library, about 10 minutes ago maybe..."  
  
James was running out the door, bolting out of there as fast as he could. He was still in disbelief but he needed to get down there.

_How could Sirius have been so stupid? So foolish? Was he that vindictive? That obsessed with pay back? Maybe Lily and Remus had been right to be worried...this was too far!_  
  
James' feet were pelting the ground so hard that the sound echoed in the corridors, he could hear snatches of chastisement from the paintings, adrenaline pumping in his veins.  
  
The sun had just set, Remus would be transforming now, he didn't want to think of what would happen if he didn't make it in time.  
  
He sprinted out to the Whomping Willow now standing eerily still, he didn't hesitate to breathe or look for Sirius whom he knew was watching from somewhere close by, immediately throwing himself down into the burrow.  
  
He crawled on his belly for a few feet before finally pulling himself up and scrambling along the dark tunnel. His glasses had slipped from his nose, and he couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling when he heard a distinct crunch under one his feet.  
  
He wanted to call out Snape's name and for a moment he struggled to think of his real name.  
  
"Severus!" he called out, squinting in the darkness, cursing his poor eyesight.   
  
He could here the faint sounds of someone scrambling eagerly away from him.  
  
"Severus!" he repeated, "Stay where you are, don't...don't move," he warned,  
  
A high pitched laugh carried down the length of the tunnel, "I've got you now, Potter! You and your friends will be gone by tomorrow!" he screeched.  
  
James stifled the urge to call him an idiot and just leave him there; he scampered quickly through the familiar twists and turns of the passageway.  
  
"Severus, you don't understand..." he called out desperately, "you don't know what's at the end...where this leads to..."  
  
"I know that you don't want me to get there!" he cackled madly.  
  
James could make a blurry shape 10 feet away from him. Snape had raised his wand, muttering 'Alohamora', James dived forward, but it was too late: the door had opened, James and Sirius could hear a low growl emit from somewhere very close by.  
  
James pulled Snape back by the end of his robes and he pushed him to the ground. Snape could see in the dim light that James looked frightened but extremely alert.  
  
"You have to get out of here," he whispered urgently.  
  
Snape was in shock, he had seen...he thought he had seen...but that would mean...his thoughts came a shuddering halt and he realised what he had seen: Remus Lupin was a werewolf!  
  
"Get away from me!" Snape hissed, standing up and backing away.  
  
James grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back towards the exit, he could hear Remus sniffing around the door and he knew that the werewolf knew that they were there...he kept glancing back towards the door, Snape struggling in his arms, but James held on tighter, he could hear the sounds of something large in the tunnel with them now, he forced Snape though the exit, immediately the Whomping Willow whipped around a branch and sent them flying backwards, far away from the Whomping Willow.

James lay on the grass panting, face pale and glistening with sweat, he could hear Snape nearby taking deep, ragged breaths.

James pushed himself up on to his elbows and looked around, but without his glasses he hadn't much hope of seeing his hand in front of his face, let alone a dark figure in a pitch black and slightly misty night.

"Severus?" he whispered, and he heard Snape's breathing hitch. He stumbled up onto his feet, feeling the beginnings of a nasty bruise across his chest where the Whomping Willow had smacked into him, "Where are you?"

There was no reply, and James exhaled, getting frustrated now, "Look, I can't see a damn thing, I broke my glasses, just tell me where the hell you are?"

He looked down at the ground hopefully, with no reply yet again; he thought that maybe Snape had passed out. Clutching his wand he sent up a distress signal, hoping that one of the teachers or maybe Hagrid would see it and come help.

He took a couple of cautious steps when he heard a twig snap behind him, he stopped, not daring to take another breath, but within a few moments it became quite clear that it wasn't Remus or else he would be dead by now.

Suddenly James felt livid, "Get out of here, Padfoot," he hissed, seething with anger.

Sirius could see him well enough even in the dim light, he could see that James was almost shaking, his face had gone white and his mouth was taut, Sirius noticed that his hand was clenched firmly around his wand, his hand twitching as though he'd quite like to use it.

Sirius made another step towards him.

"Get out of here," he repeated darkly and Sirius could sense that James was losing patience: he had now gone rigid.

Sirius turned back into a dog and ran back to the castle, once inside he changed back and made his way hurriedly back to the Gryffindor common rooms, careful, as always, not to arouse suspicions.

Once inside he went up to his dorm, ignoring all comments towards him, he sat on his bed, his heart racing at a thousand miles an hour, he could only speculate on what had made James so infuriated: He had gone too far.

But, he reasoned, he never went too far, no, Snape had it coming, he shouldn't have been nosing around there, it was Snape's fault.

Sirius couldn't stand the waiting, he got up and paced angrily around the room, finally tiring of being alone when James hadn't returned after half an hour he went back down to the Common Room.

Peter had gone, as with most of the Gryffindors, down to dinner in the Great Hall, he knew he had an hour or so before anyone would be coming back.

He leaned against the wall by the fireplace and scanned the room, noting the students that had stayed behind and there, enjoying a sandwich and a cup of tea, was the unmistakable Lily Evans.

Her red hair was today restrained in a high ponytail, she was listening to a younger student describe his woes. He had taken to noticing the smallest of details about Evans, Prongs had put him in the habit.

"No matter what I do, I just can't seem to get the hang of it," he said sadly, demonstrating what it was that he couldn't get the hang of.

Lily took another gulp of tea and set the cup down on the table, leaning over to closer look at the parchment on the table

"Don't worry Nick, it's a very common mistake, everybody makes it," she said kindly, "What you're doing is forgetting to add the salamander eyes _after_ waiting several minutes for the grendelwart to fully absorb, you've been waiting too long, Nick, there's your problem,"

The boy looked thoroughly relieved to say the least, "Oh! I thought I was going to fail this years' exams for sure! Thanks Lily!"

Sirius had forgotten about exams, but it didn't worry him anyway: he knew it all.

She smiled broadly, patting him on the back, "Don't worry about it, you have all of this stuff in your head anyway, sometimes we are looking so hard that we miss the answer when it's right there in front of us!" she said kindly and the boy, Nick, laughed along with her.

"Hey Sirius!" said Daniel Rodgers, sitting with a couple of Quidditch team members, Iphigenia Joon and Gregory Pratchett.

Sirius noticed that Lily's head snapped around and she eyed him inquiringly.

"Hey," Sirius smiled, sliding over to sit with the group, "Why aren't you guys down at dinner?"

"We grabbed some food earlier, last minute studying and now we're enjoying a well deserved break. Why aren't you down shoveling food into your face?"

"I do not shovel!" Sirius cried, his grin wide.

"I've seen you eat, you could be part of one of those muggle traveling freak shows, mate," Daniel replied teasingly.

Sirius laughed, "I just didn't feel hungry," he shrugged.

Martin, Iphigenia and Gregory just raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say, 'Yeah right,' but Sirius continued to smile impassively.

"So, what are you getting up to these holidays, mate?" Gregory asked, breaking the silence.

"'Spect, I'll be going to France with James and his parents...otherwise I thought I might drop in on Andromeda and her husband, see how they're going, catch up with little Nymphadora" he said lazily, though the mention of James had reminded him just why he was sitting here, his stomach gave an uneasy flip and he squirmed in his chair, "And what about you lot?" he said, shifting the focus.

"Nothing much," Daniel replied, "Just hoping to relax before next year," and the others agreed with a groan, "I can't believe we'll be Seventh Years next year!"

Iphigenia giggled, "I know, I feel as immature and childish as the day I walked in here! And God help us all, we're setting Sirius Black on the world!"

Sirius barked out his usual laugh, feeling a lot more at ease, he began to launch into his plans to wreak havoc as an adult when the door slammed open.

Everyone's heads turned to see a fuming James Potter standing in the doorway, hand firmly gripped around his wand.

People barely had time to register their shock at seeing him so angry when he launched himself at Sirius, who had stood up by way of going over to ask what had happened.

James slammed him into the wall, his hands trembling with barely contained rage, "What were you thinking?!" he roared and Sirius retreated from the intensity of James' accusation, "Were you thinking at all?"

People were standing back, watching with a kind of grim fascination as James repeatedly slammed Sirius into the wall, hurling insults and looking generally murderous.

No one had ever seen the two of them fight in the entire time at Hogwarts, I fact, they doubted if James and Sirius had actually _ever_ fought, the two of them were so close and always saw eye to eye on things: brothers, kindred spirits, best friends...whatever, everything that indicated that that were the two most unlikely people to be the position they were in now: James screaming at the top of his lungs at a thoroughly shocked looking Sirius.

"You son of a bitch," James muttered, his face drained of all colour, "You could have got him killed! Or was that your plan?" he sneered, "I never thought you'd take the same road as your family, but you've proved tonight that you really do belong in the noble house of Black," he said cruelly, and this was what shook Sirius from his shock.

"How dare you!" Sirius spat, pushing James back so that the two now stood facing one another, ready for a fight, "It was just a stupid prank James! He deserved..."

"Oh? He deserved to die?" James said dangerously, "You don't mind being a murderer then? Quite happy with that term?"

The colour drained from Sirius' face only to rise again to a brilliant red, "Don't make this out to be anything other than what it is! And what it was is just a harmless..."

"Harmless practical joke, right?" James said quietly, his jaw rigid, "I should have seen this, should have listened to Remus and Lily..." he said, looking at the floor, talking to himself.

"Oh!" Sirius exploded, "Let's bring darling Lily into this! You're pathetic James! Stop trying to impress her, she doesn't want you!" Sirius snapped.

"This isn't about Lily," James said hotly, the only sign that he had even registered any emotion at hearing her name was a slight pinkish tinge to his ears, "this is about you! But she was right and I should have seen it! Tell me, did you fancy yourself a cell in Azkaban?"

"That's enough!" Lily said she had been watching the unpleasant scene in shock, only awakening when her name had been mentioned.

James and Sirius let go of one another and looked around the room, for the first time James noticed that they were not alone and was slightly embarrassed people were staring at them as though someone had died: too shocked to do anything, Lily was the only thing moving in the room.

James swallowed angrily and grabbed Sirius by the arm, pulling him upstairs, Sirius struggled for a bit, but James had already had to deal with an angry Snape and he was in an extremely foul mood.

James pushed Sirius into the room and rounded on him menacingly.

"What's your problem?" Sirius said angrily, rubbing his wrist where James had grabbed him.

James laughed dismally and shook his head, "You don't get it do you? You don't even understand what you...what you did tonight," he said softly.

"I don't understand why you're carrying on like this!" Sirius erupted.

"Carrying on like this?!" James repeated, his voice rising, he sighed, muttered a silencing charm and then turned back to Sirius, his eyes (still lacking glasses) burning, "You don't realise what you could have done?" he asked quietly, realizing that Sirius just didn't get it.

"It was...I just wanted to get Snape back," Sirius explained.

"And it would be okay if he died in the process?" James said quietly.

"What? No! I just wanted to scare him a bit!"

But James was shaking his head and clenching his fists, "What did you think was going to happen?!" he demanded furiously, "You let Snape go into that tunnel, without any knowledge of the danger he was in, facing a fully grown werewolf and you didn't think that he might die?!" James bellowed, utterly mystified that Sirius could be that thick.

Sirius swallowed, "Yeah, I guess I thought about it...but I didn't really think it would happen," he said nervously.

James growled impatiently, "You're an idiot," he muttered.

"I still don't see why you're making such a huge deal out of..."

"Just think for a moment, Sirius, use your head for just one second and think what _could _have happened," James snapped, pacing angrily, "Think, just think if Snape had been killed then there would have been an inquest, you'd be expelled, probably on your way to Azkaban right now, Peter too and Remus..." James looked like he might burst into flame, "Did you even think what might happen to Remus if he'd killed him?! You don't think that maybe Remus would have to live with that everyday, knowing that he'd killed someone?! If he was even allowed to live, you do know what they do to werewolves that have killed people, right?!" James shook his head, "Remus is terrified of hurting people...tonight you treated him as a monster, like a dog you can set on your enemies, just so you could get back at Snape," he said softly.

Sirius heart stopped, blood drained from his face as he realised. "Oh," he said softly.

James nodded, "That's right, '_Oh_', you could have handed him a death sentence, nice to know that if you don't at least care about Snape's life you don't even consider your best friends'" he yelled at the cringing Sirius.

Sirius sank into a chair, suddenly quite unable to move. James sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his shaking hands, he looked up at Sirius who was pale and rigid, not daring to move...James didn't even think he was blinking..._but then again_ he thought angrily, _I wouldn't know, I can't see damn thing without my glasses_.

James wiped a hand down his face, resting it over his mouth contemplatively; after Sirius had left he had stumbled around in the dark for a couple of minutes before tripping over Snape, he had picked him up, and heaved him back to the castle...getting back to the door from memory. Being somewhat distracted he had run straight into Dumbledore, who had then taken over, James had followed anxiously, people looking at Snape and whispering, James didn't notice, he was far too scared to think of anything else but the task at hand...Snape had even less colour in his pallid face: he looked dead.

"Snape is okay, just a couple of bruises from the Whomping Willow," he said feeling a twinge from his own bruise, he stared straight ahead, not daring to look at Sirius, "he saw Remus...he knows what he is...Dumbledore is trying to sort it out now," he sighed, rubbing his face again, "I've got to get back now." He stood up, Sirius did the same but James glared at him, "You're not coming," he told him and Sirius looked at him confusedly, "You'll incriminate yourself further if you come and..."he paused, but he never looked away from Sirius's eyes, "I don't want to be in the same room as you right now," he said coldly, turning from the room and leaving Sirius standing by himself, James looked at him one last time as he stepped out of the door, Sirius forced himself to look back, but in seeing the disappointment, disgust and the...the fear, he turned away, ashamed.


End file.
